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Apple Maggots

These are the worms of the apple maggot fly. The signs of apple maggots are often malformed, shrunken, or shriveled fruit. Often, the apples are rotten and pulpy and holes appear in the fruit. The worms are tapered, yellowy-white, legless, and about ¼ inch long, or smaller. Apple maggots attack apple, plum, cherry, and pear trees

The adult flies are about half the size of common houseflies and are black, with dark bands on their clear wings. The adult flies appear in the late spring for about 1 month and they lay eggs in the apples through holes they puncture in the skin of the fruit. The eggs then hatch into maggots that tunnel through the fruit. The mature maggots then drop to the ground and burrow into the soil to pupate. In the spring they emerge from the soil as mature flies.

Recommended Control Steps

It is impossible to control the worms during the current season’s fruit, but they can be prevented or reduced over the year. Apple Maggot Traps lure and capture the mature flies, thereby controlling them. The traps should be set out early in the spring, about mid-April, because the flies lay their eggs in the new fruit during the late spring and early summer period.

Also, as soon as the flies appear, spray the area with Bug Buster Pyrethrin Insect Spray. Repeat the process every seven days or so. You can also reduce the spread of apple maggot larvae by collecting and removing any fruit that falls to the ground.